Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee: An Epically Short History of Our Kings and Queens

by Charlie Higson, Jim Moir (Illustrator)

The first non-fiction book from the comedy legend – an irresistible, family-friendly deep dive into the murky lives of the British monarchy

Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee, Harry, Dick, John, Harry three. One, two, three Neds, Richard Two, Henries, four, five, six, then who? Charlie Higson has always been interested in the story of the fabled English from the b*stardly to the benevolent, brilliant to the brutal. In this wonderful new book, with the famous rhyme he learned at school as his trusty guide, Charlie takes the plunge into the storied history of this most treasured of institutions – introducing readers to every single ruler since poor Harold was shot in the eye at the Battle of Hastings. Bloody treachery? Check. Unruly incest? Check. Short parliaments? Check. A couple of Cromwells? Check.

A rip-roaring journey that takes in the Normans, Stuarts and Tudors, not to mention the infamous Blois (how can we forget them?), Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee is an utterly engrossing and grossly entertaining primer on who ruled when and why.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Historical, Audiobook, Humor, Ebooks, British Literature

432 pages, Hardcover

Published October 9, 2025

About the author

Higson was educated at Sevenoaks School and at the University of East Anglia (where his brother has taught since 1986 and is now a professor of film studies) where he met Paul Whitehouse, David Cummings and Terry Edwards. Higson, Cummings and Edwards formed the band The Higsons of which Higson was the lead singer from 1980 to 1986. They released two singles on the Specials' 2-Tone label. Higson then became a plasterer before he turned to writing for Harry Enfield with Paul Whitehouse and performing comedy. He came to public attention as one of the main writers and performers of the BBC Two sketch show The Fast Show (1994-2000). He worked with Whitehouse on the radio comedy Down the Line and is to work with him again on a television project, designed to be a spoof of celebrity travel programmes.[1:]

He worked as producer, writer, director and occasional guest star on Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) from 2000 to 2001. Subsequent television work has included writing and starring in BBC Three's Fast Show spin-off sitcom Swiss Toni. He is currently starring in Tittybangbang series 3 on BBC Three and has appeared as a panellist on QI.

He published four novels through the early to mid 1990s which take a slightly dystopian look at everyday life and have a considerably more adult tone than his other work, with characters on the margins of society finding themselves spiraling out of control, leading him to be described by Time Out as 'The missing link between Dick Emery and Brett Easton Ellis' [2:]

In 2004, it was announced that Higson would pen a series of James Bond novels, aimed at younger readers and concentrating on the character's school-days at Eton. Higson was himself educated at Sevenoaks School where he was a contemporary of Jonathan Evans, current Director General of MI5. The first novel, SilverFin, was released on 3 March 2005 in the UK and on 27 April 2005 in the U.S. A second novel, Blood Fever, was released on 5 January 2006 in the UK and 1 June in the U.S. The third novel, Double or Die, was published on 4 January 2007 having had its title announced the day before. The next, Hurricane Gold, came out in hardcover in the UK in September 2007.[3:]In this year he also made a debut performance on the panel show QI. His final Young Bond novel, By Royal Command, was released in hardcover in the UK on the 3 September 2008.[4:]

Charlie has signed a deal to pen a new series of children's books for Puffin. According to the author, "They are going to be action adventures, but with a horror angle

Reviews

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the British royalty is one of those subjects that we think we know but when it actually comes down to even broad strokes, we don't really remember very much at all.

In this book - named for the rhyme (that I was never taught at school) to be used to remember all the monarchs since William I.
There was lots of information that I didn't know but the overall impression is that the royals are just as plagued with deeply flawed characters in their families as the rest of us.

It did surprise me that there was actually some kind of charter regarding how royals should behave - I presume to cut down on the mistresses, illegitimate children, partying etc etc (This has clearly failed with Andrew). And it made me wonder why we should expect them to be any better behaved than we?

In this book Charlie Higson takes a semi-lighthearted look at the lives, loves and reigns of all our monarchs up to Charlie 3. It's funny in parts, interesting all the way through and the illustrations are -- let's say "warts and all". All in all, a really great read.

Thankyou to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Non Fiction for the advance review copy.

[Daniel W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charlie Higson has managed to make a huge period of history, with various very complicated subjects, both easily understandable and entertaining - a really difficult thing to achieve. I love the history of the monarchy and I definitely learned some new things from reading this book (though I admit I am biased … which is why I’ve just got to rate it five stars!)

[Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

another excellent read - much more comprehensive than my previous attempt to gauge the British monarchy, and I really enjoyed myself.

[Michelle Marmelo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant. A fun, page-turning account of the English/British monarchs since Willy decided to cross the channel.

[Saimi Korhonen · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

"The history of the monarchy is a story of fratricide, patricide, uxoricide (look it up), and nephewcide (is that a word?), kings have been, variously, kicked off the throne, starved to death, beheaded and dispatched with a red-hot poker up the fundament. It's an alarming, violent and often sordid tale, and thus a very interesting and entertaining one."

Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee is comedian and author Charlie Higson's attempt to tell the complex, bloody and wacky story of the English and British monarchy from William the Conqueror to Charles III. It's not an easy task, for sure. Higson gives a short overview of each monarch, what they accomplished and the struggles they faced during their reign. Written in a conversational tone, this is an easy-to-read primer into monarchical history.

Higson's Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee was a mixed bag for me. Let's start with the positives.

The structure of the book and Higson's casual, easy-to-follow tone made the book pleasant to read even when he had to get into really complicated political, religious or social topics. I had a pretty good grasp on English/British monarchical history before this book, but it helped clear out some major things for me. For example, I finally understood why William the Conqueror thought he had a right to the English throne (he was the cousin of the childless, later sanctified Edward the Confessor) and the events that led to the Anarchy became much clearer to me. I knew Matilda was Henry I's heir, but I didn't know his son William had died when the ship he was getting drunk on with his pals sank (fun fact, Stephen was meant to be on that boat too but had to stay behind cause of hangover diarrhoea). I also knew John's reign was a bit of a disaster, but I had no idea the Pope actually banned England, for years, from holding any religious ceremonies (funerals, weddings, masses, all of them forbidden) until John finally relented and made peace with him. The Wars of the Roses have also been, for the longest time, a complex mystery to me. I know the basics – it was a feud between two branches of the same family, the Lancasters and the Yorks – but this book helped me actually understand why they ended up fighting in the first place. Edward III's decision to name his grandson Richard heir instead of his younger son, John of Gaunt, Henry IV deposing Richard II, Henry VI succumbing to severe mental illness and losing his grip on the country, all of these things together hurtled the country toward this civil war. I was also always a bit hazy on how Victoria ended up on the throne, and now I know he was William IV's niece.

Alongside helping me simply make sense of the mess that was the monarchy for hundreds of years, this book also taught me a lot of new information about each and every monarch, even the ones I knew quite well. Though I had some issues with how certain monarchs and figures were discussed, I did appreciate how Higson went against some stereotypes and leaned on new, more nuanced readings of these individuals. He wrote about how a lot of Richard III's infamy is due to Tudor propaganda and authors like Shakespeare – yes, he did some really nasty things (see: Princes (or Prince and King) in the Tower, and declaring his brother Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth as invalid, delegitimating their children), but to depict him as an all-out horrid monster is not good history-writing. Higson also highlighted how so many women in English/British history have been maligned, largely due to their gender. Matilda has, for the longest time, been depicted as a wilful, unpleasant, abrasive and pushy woman, even though she was far more competent a candidate for the throne than Stephen who was, as Higson puts it: "– the epitome of the mediocre male who gets promoted over the head of a better qualified woman because his face fits and he was in the right boys' club." Mary I has been nicknamed Bloody Mary, even though she wasn't the bloodiest of the Tudors (her body count was much lower than Elizabeth's, it all just happened in a shorter period of time) and her contributions have largely been ignored in favour of lurid stories of her bloodlust. Higson highlights her importance in defining and shaping the parameters of female rule and making it possible for a woman to hold on to the throne without their husband taking over. He also wrote about Mary II's subtle way of politicking and how she was able to first adapt to the Republican court in the Netherlands and then back into the English court, making allies and friends in both countries. I had never heard that one courtier of hers had described her as a "another Queen Elizabeth" because of her skills in diplomacy, manipulation, flattery and so on. Higson also wrote respectfully about Queen Anne who is so often remembered as this pushover, sickly woman whose uterus failed her. He highlighted her hands-on approach to politics, for example. Another figure who is often remembered as a bit of a fuck-up is Edward VII, Victoria's son and heir, who admittedly did have a rather chaotic, debauched life. But Higson does a great job showing how Edward was more than just his raunchy sex life; he oversaw the signing of the Entente Cordiale (a peace and friendship agreement between Britain and France after centuries of warfare), he worked on improving housing for the poor, he openly critiqued racist rule in the colonies and he was, most of the time, a rather popular figure among the people, especially when his mother retreated into widowhood after losing Albert.

Overall, Higson did a great job showcasing the humanity of each monarch. While he expresses his opinions on them as people and rulers (he, for example, doesn't shy away from calling George IV a really despicable, annoying figure), he does bring up positives about each of them, even if they are few and far between. What comes across, above all, in this book, is that the history of the monarchy is a history of messy humans, people like us, who are ruled by ambition, lust, duty, love, anger, jealousy and every other human emotion under the sun. We can get so lost in the fancy tales kings and queens and heroics and epic wars that we forget that every person in history was exactly that, a person.

Now, on to some of my gripes.

I had some issues with how Higson wrote about some figures in history. In some cases, he leaned too much on stereotypes which are not, according to new research by actual historians, quite true. For example, he describes Catherine Howard as this rather ditzy, naive girl who knew nothing about court life, when historians like Gareth Russell have written about Catherine's masterful understanding of court etiquette (publicly, she never once fucked up). Some claims made about her by Higson are also a bit controversial, such as her having been assaulted by her music teacher, as many historians have suggested this reading ignores some vital evidence to the contrary. Higson also stated that we cannot judge Richard the Lionheart, though he does admit he was a bit of a dick who didn't give two shits about England, by modern standards. That is true, but what Higson seems to almost ignore is that even at the time Richard was considered an unusually violent and brutal man. Kings – even Medieval ones – couldn't simply kill thousands of prisoners (women and children, mostly). And to call Richard a huge success by Medieval standards is also iffy. The man visited England a handful of times, taxed it to high heaven and buggered off to do some crusading. In what universe is he a successful king? Yes, people liked him and mythologized him, but he didn't do much good for the country in the end.

One recurring thing that Higson did that pissed me off was the rather glib way he discussed mental illness. I get it, he's a comedian and comedians make jokes, but I just find it really upsetting and frustrating that people like Henry VI and France's Charles VI, who suffered from severe and debilitating mental illness, were described as "going bonkers" and so on. As someone who suffers from mental illness, I find jokes like that quite hurtful. You can joke about mental illness (in certain contexts), sure, but belittling someone's clear mental anguish, even if they lived hundreds of years ago, just doesn't sit right with me. Another moment of Higson being quite crude was when he said, rather flippantly, that listening to the future George VI give a speech as painful for the audience as giving the speech was to him. As someone who suffered from a stutter for years, I beg to disagree. Stuttering is a frightening, anxiety-inducing, often humiliating issue, even if you aren't a goddamn prince or king. I can promise you that stuttering in front of hundreds was a 100 times worse for George than it was for the audience. But perhaps I am being a bit too much of a woke snowflake – a group of people Higson needles a good few times in the book. This also irritated me.

As a queer historian, I also have to mention my issues regarding the way Higson wrote about the (possibly) queer monarchs of England/Britain. While he acknowledges the rumours surrounding kings like Edward II and James II, and queens such as Mary II and Anne, he does also make some comments which irritated me. He talks about the dangers of interpreting historical figures through a modern lens, which is all well and good, but it is also something many historians hide behind if they don't want to acknowledge the very clear evidence of a monarch's queerness. James I and VI left behind so many romantic/erotic letters to his favourites that you simply cannot, in my opinion, claim his favourites were just his pals. The sources only make sense if you read them as queer. Yes, some monarchs didn't leave behind enough evidence that we can comfortably label them queer – of example, Mary II and Anne – but some did. James did. To me, it is a bit cowardly to hide behind the "well, we can never know for sure and oh, people wrote letters differently back then" – both are true, in some cases, but sometimes we can know. One moment that enraged me was Higson saying, when discussing the interpretation of Edward II as queer, that even though there's no concrete evidence of his gayness, people now assume he is gay because the modern consensus is that everyone's gay. This felt like a frustrating, pointed attack on people, historians and others, who doing queer readings of historical texts and figures, and who are advocating for a more nuanced and complex understanding of sexuality and gender. This comment also makes it sound like historians are simply labelling anyone queer willy-nilly and are not facing intense backlash for doing so. Does Higson live in a world where queer historians are embraced everywhere they go and people happily accept queer readings of historical figures, monarchs above all? I, a gueer historian, certainly don't live in that world.

I had a good time with this book, for the most part. There were stuff that annoyed me and there were some factual mistakes (George Villiers was stabbed, not shot...), but it also taught me a lot. This book is not by a historian, which Higson emphasised from the beginning, but it can give you a solid understanding of the major developments of the monarchy and of the people who sat on the throne. I guess I would recommend it, but I'd also recommend not taking everything Higson says at face value.


Interesting facts I learned:

- The royals have had some weird nicknames. Edward VII was, back in naval college, known as Sardine, while William IV was known as Silly Billy, Sailor Bill and, due to the shape of his head, Pineapple. After James II escaped Ireland (having been defeated by William III) and abandoned his Irish allies, they nicknamed him James the Shite.

- Henry II's father's emblem was a broom spring, which was, in Latin, planta genista. This symbol gave the house its name, Plantagenet.

- Simon de Montfort who ruled the country for a while when Henry III was captured was a sort of Proto-Cromwell and is known as the Father of Parliament. He was brutally defeated by Henry's son, the future Edward I.

- The first parliament held in English was during Edward III's reign, in 1362.

- Edward III declared himself, because of his mother Isabella "The She-Wolf" of France, to be the rightful king of France. This kicked off the 100 Years' War.

- Henry Bolingbroke, aka Henry IV, who deposed Richard II (his cousin), was the first monarch who spoke English during his coronation, though Latin remained the language of the court.

- Wars of the Roses ran from 1455 to 1487 through the reigns of five kings: Henry VI, Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III and Henry VII. There were, though, only a few months of actual fighting and less than 20 battles.

- In his youth, George III wrote about the inhumanity of slavery, but, as King, he resisted reforms to ban it until 1807 cause he and the country benefitted from it. In 1807, taking part in the slave trade was forbidden, but no one had to free their already-owned slaves. In 1833 slavery was banned pretty much completely.

- Earl of Warwick, known as the Kingmaker, deposed Henry VI and put young Edward IV on the throne, but he ended up siding with Henry's formidable wife, Margaret of Anjou, putting Henry back on the throne and fighting Edward, who ended up retaking the throne in the end. Warwick died, Henry VI died and Margaret lived out her years in France.

- Edward I established the title of Prince of Wales for the heir.

- King Philip of France, who was rumoured to have been Richard the Lionheart's boyfriend, also had a close friendship with Richard's brother, Geoffrey. When Geoffrey died, Philip tried to climb into his coffin and yelled: "Take me too! I can't bear to let you go!" Ok, bro.

- During WWII, Churchill commissioned Sir Laurence Olivier to make a movie about Henry V, one of England's most legendary monarchs. The movie was a sort of rallying cry for the people.

- Owen Tudor married Henry V's widow, Catherine of Valois, and thus began the Tudor house. Henry VII was Owen's grandson.

- Oliver Cromwell tried to emigrate to New England, to one of the new Puritan colonies, in 1634 but was barred from leaving because he was a parliament member.

- Once the English took over the Royal African Company, many of the slaves they transported were branded with letters D and Y for Duke of York (the future James II was the governor of the company).

- 1714 to 1760 Britain was ruled by Whigs. The era was known as the Whig Supremacy.

- It is possible George II had something akin to OCD and autism.

- When George of Denmark died, Anne was heartbroken. Sarah Churchill came into her rooms, took away George's portrait and said Anne needs to get over herself. This was the final straw for Anne, who then cut the Churchills out of her life.

- George IV stopped wearing powdered wigs which meant most people stopped wearing them too. A trendsetter.

- Edward VII was a witness at a divorce trial, which was the first time a royal had given evidence in court since Prince Hal (Henry V) in the 15th century.

- George V, who was quite liked for his down-to-earth vibe, was the first monarch to present the FA cup.

- Elizabeth II made his first radio podcast in 1940 when she was 14. She addressed the children of Britain and comforted them.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Chloe Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoyed this! funny and gives a really balanced overview of 1000 years of history

[Anne Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This file was corrupted on download. I received an email from the publishers. From what I did read , this would be a great intro to British history or a reference book for children and for that I give it 5*. It’s written in a very chatty style not stuffy at all.

[Chris Chanona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It made the history of Kings and Queens funny, enjoyable, and best of all very comprehensible. I enjoyed how many died of an exploding stomach or an exploding brain. Charlie Higson makes it a very easy read. I expected to skim through some of it, but found myself reading every entry. I’m not sure I will remember the order of Kings and Queens any better but felt I’d grasped it as I read.

He explained the basics of what happened in each monarch’s reign in simple language which amused as well as informed. I will return to this book whenever I need to revise on a particular monarch.

I thoroughly recommend this book and the illustrations by Jim Moir were very appropriate. I read an ARC provided by NetGalley and the publishers.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio book courtesy of Net Galley UK and Harper Collins Publishers.

‘Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee’ is a jocular romp through the history of the Kings and Queens of England from the year 1066 to date. Its title is drawn from the mnemonic often used by schoolchildren as an aide-memoire to the monarchical timeline. The book apparently became a reality following a series of podcasts on the same theme. Charlie Higson is the writer and able narrator, who keeps the momentum going with his wry humour and by singling out the juiciest, gossipy and macabre events which occurred during the successive regal generations.

There are noticeable incidents of repetitiveness, which underscore how history does indeed repeat itself in actuality. The earlier figures were hell bent on fighting over territory with some parts of France in particular regularly changing hands. The monarchs themselves routinely fought in the battles on behalf of their kingdom. This contrasts sharply with the present day where it is highly unlikely that a constitutional sovereign would be involved at grass roots level in a conflict. Other coincidences are the fates of the ‘spares’ second in line to the throne. Whilst sometimes usurping and plotting against their siblings or parents, others struggle to find a meaningful role.

After the initial ten or so chapters, it can be challenging to maintain interest. However, I stuck with the audio book to the end and have no regrets. I learned so much about plagues, pestilence, extra marital affairs and beheadings. To be honest, I’m quite ashamed of my former ignorance in certain respects. My main fascination was for William of Orange and his wife Queen Mary, the only joint rulers to date, who embedded Protestantism and featured in the Glorious Revolution and the Battle of the Boyne. I can envisage myself returning to this book again in the future, dipping in and out at random. This is an unusual and light hearted piece of entertainment that should appeal to all.

[James Cay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book has been perfect timing for me as it has helped me to pan out from recent books focused on single monarchs or shorter time periods. In doing this, I have been able to put some of these - esp. the Anglo Saxons, Plantagenets, Tudors and Stuarts - back into their context and, in the process, hopefully cemented some more of the key players and events into my slightly unreliable memory! The author makes no claim to be presenting an original study but rather states up-front that he is consolidating his own reading of history, synthesised from a wide range of other writers’ works. This is ideal for me as it provides a kind of lighthearted crib of many of the same books that I have already enjoyed and which I don’t plan on re-reading in the short term at least. Mr Higson’s skill is in managing to fit so much serious information into a relatively concise and, above all, humorous book. I would recommend this book to anyone beginning their discovery of our nation’s history or people who, like me, are keen wannabe historians who just need some help remembering who did what and when.

[Joshua Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d already read a similar book, Unruly, by David Mitchell but that only went up to Elizabeth I. I was delighted to see this book went up to Charles III! So much information packed in, filled a lot of gaps in my knowledge regarding English civil war and the 4 Georges. Enjoyed the closing remarks, really felt like a journey from the barbaric Middle Ages to a Monarch who was around for the internet and social media!

[Jo-anne Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short romp through 1000 years of British history with a focus on every monarch that has ruled (plus a few that haven't). It's irreverent and fun but actually based on a lot of good history. At times I found the humour a little puerile but overall its grounded in research and knowledge which redeems it and makes it a strong 'popular' history book.

[Dennis Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee: An Epically Short History of Our Kings and Queens by Charlie Higson published in 2025. Charlie Higson is a British author of youth and adult books as well as a comedy writer, producer, actor. This is a delightful book that contains a thousand years of British monarchial history from William the Conquerer to the present. It is a fast paced and entertaining account that puts each monarch into the history of their era. I have been on a British History kick of late and this book was enormously helpful. The witty asides are brilliant. The title comes from a mnemonic that British schoolchildren use to remember the monarchs.

[Bilge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never liked history. In contrast, I’m a big fan of historical fiction. When I bought this book, I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to finish it, and definitely wasn’t going to enjoy it. But guess what? I loved it!

The humorous tone starts right from the cover with the rhyme and carries on all the way to the end. Imagine a history book that actually makes you laugh out loud! And don’t even get me started on the hilarious illustrations.

Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee somehow made British history genuinely fun for me, which I honestly didn’t think was possible!

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw Charlie Higson on tv talking about this book and having always been interested in monarchy and its history, I thought I’d give a go. First of all I don’t think this is a children’s book, second it is funny in places. Especially with some of the comparisons to today’s politics.

It starts with William the Conqueror and the circumstances around him conquering Britain and ends with Charles the third. He puts to bed some of the myths surrounding some of the monarchs, especially Queen Anne!

I know Jim Moir ( Vic Reeves) is an artist and I suspect that the drawings are probably better in a tree book than on my iPad.

The one fact that I seem to have come away from this book is that George V had tattoos…..possibly what is more comparable to today’s sleeves! Who would have thought that of a king who seems to have the reputation for being boring!!

[Fern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed my one monarch a night! Interesting, funny and informative despite there being so many George’s!!!

[Suzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is brilliant. After reading The Enemy Series I saw the name and I was super excited to read this.
I was not disappointed.
Interesting, well written and funny. Everything you want in a nonfiction..

[FaithfulReviewer (Jacqueline) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, Nonfiction | Mudlark, the author and NetGalley for a DRC in return for an honest review. I also enjoyed listening to the audiobook read magnificently by the author, Charlie Higson

Unfortunately, I’m one of those people who was never taught the famous rhyme that cleverly lists all the Kings and Queens of Britain - though when our son was a child, we did delight in listening to the Horrible Histories version!

This is a fantastically engaging history book, presented in a light-hearted, witty way. It’s ideal for children (and adults!) who want to learn everything there is to know about British royalty, right from the very beginning through to Charles III - complete with the grisly bits, all told with a subtle comedic edge.

The illustrations by Jim Moir (better known as Vic Reeves) are outstanding - who knew he was such a talented artist? I only wish there had been a few more included.

This book is bursting with fascinating facts, some you might already know and some that will absolutely surprise you.

For example, a disturbing number of monarchs apparently met their end due to exploding brains or stomachs and while I knew there was plenty of inbreeding in the Royal Family, I was shocked by just how extensive it truly was! There are also some brilliant historical nuggets - such as the original Poll Tax (turns out Margaret Thatcher didn’t invent that one) and the story of Sir Robert Walpole, who in 1721 became the First Lord of the Treasury. The term 'Prime Minister' wasn’t an official title at first - it actually began as a sneer, coined by political opponents and the press, mocking Walpole for acting as if he were above the King and other ministers. Ironically, over time that insult evolved into the official title we still use today! However, the original title is immortalised on the brass plate that adorns the famous black door of 10 Downing Street - the British PM's official residence.

If you want to explore all the quirks, scandals and eccentricities of the British monarchy, I wholeheartedly recommend this book - don’t delay, read it now!

#CharlieHigson #WillieWillieHarryStee #NetGalley

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m reviewing this mid listen as I’m absolutely loving it but it’s very long and, as it’s so easy to dip in and out of, I’m listening to it in between other audiobooks so it’s going to take a while to finish it.

I love Charlie Higson’s narration. It’s so easy to listen to, very entertaining and enthralling. And of course the subject matter is fascinating. There are many occasions when I have laughed out loud.

I would love a copy of the physical book as I imagine the illustrations will add to the enjoyment.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for an advance audio copy.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be a very pleasant surprise and I was honestly expecting it to be a little underwhelming and too similar to David Mitchell's Unruly, but what a thoroughly enjoyable romp between 1000 years of English/British Monarchs.

Very readable and approachable and full of humour and interest. Is it clonclusive or detailed? No but there is enough for each Monarch to get a lot out of this book. Even the boring ones or who did little of note.

It is a book I would love to read again and I loved the illustrations by Jim Moir (Vic Reeves), especially the one of Wat Tyler and Richard II, and the one of Simon de Montfort with his balls on his nose!

Highly recommend this book.

[Martin Southard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee is an absolute delight. Higson manages to condense the tangled history of Britain’s monarchs into something lively, witty and genuinely engaging. Each reign is sketched with enough detail to give you the flavour, but never so much that it drags. The humour never feels forced, and it’s clear Higson has real affection for the material, even when he’s pointing out the absurdities. Jim Moir’s illustrations are a perfect match, giving the book extra character. It’s not just entertaining — it’s surprisingly informative, too. A brilliant read for history fans and casual readers alike. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for providing this advanced copy

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, thank you very much to HarperCollins UK Audio, and Charlie Higson for the opportunity to listen to the audio arc of Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee in exchange for an honest review!

This book brought me right back to high school history class (my favourite class) and I absolutely loved it. With regard to the audiobook itself, the quality was great and the narration was incredibly entertaining. It is a common stereotype that history can be boring and flat but I think that Charlie Higson did a fantastic job at making what can feel like a long boring textbook read, feel like a fresh humorous recounter of the British monarchy from the very beginning to current day. It was easy to follow, and I felt myself eager to continue listening.

Although I listened to this book, I also think that a physical read of this book would be incredibly enjoyable and I will absolutely be adding this to my collection.

Thank you again for the opportunity to listen!

[Julie Friar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A journey through time of our Monarchy. Charlie Higson wrote and narrated this book based on a rhyme he learned at school. The book covers the Norman’s, Plantagenets, Tudors, Stuarts, Hanoverians and Windsors. A very entertaining guide to who was who, when and what they are remembered for.

Very well written and well narrated by the author (I listened to the audiobook). Excellent tales of our monarchy. Informative, entertaining, plenty of treachery, imcest, war and invasions. Good fun.

[Shua Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Epically short but just long enough on each ruler to give you a vivid picture. The boring passages of history are spruced up with really clever humor, and the structure makes it easy to follow and feel like suspense story full of twists and turns. Listened to an ARC of this but would happily buy a paper copy to peruse at a slow pace or to jump around in.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable, very easy to read, and it made me laugh throughout. In fact, a week later, I'm still laughing at Thomas Becket being twatted on the head with a sword.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply wonderful! This hugely entertaining book provides unique context to the many historical events that most of us non-historians have gleaned a little knowledge of here and there.

Charlie Higson covers a lot of ground in an approachable way, making it funny and very easy to read. I learned a lot and laughed even more. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Mudlark and the author for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Charlie Higson does a good job of presenting the subject matter in a light hearted and entertaining manner. The problem for me was that the subject matter is rather repetitive.

Over the course of fifteen hours it becomes clear that the ruling class are bereft of imagination when it comes to naming their children. In addition a good amount of them die in the same manner as each other - it is quite eye-opening how many people die of "an exploding stomach"!

I also found it extremely annoying that Higson goes to pains to correctly pronounce French, German, Flemish, Spanish and Scandinavian names and then anglicised Welsh names, calling Owain Glyndwr 'Owen Glendower'

As I say, Higson overall does a great job (with the exception of a strange obsession with mocking 'wokery' and his laziness with the Welsh names) but despite this I don't feel that I've actually absorbed that much information by the end of it all because of it's 'sameyness'

A good concept but a frustrating result.

ꜰᴜʟʟ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ ᴘᴏꜱᴛᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ᴍʏ ʙʟᴏɢ 𝕮ᥡmrᥙ𝕭᥆ᥡ᥆𝕭᥆᥆ks

I received a free audiobook of this title from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review<\i>

[Jenny Blacker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed this but it suffers from a similar issue as the (very similar) David Mitchell one, quoting another reviewer "I felt that the consistent ribbing of ‘wokery’ and revisionist history got a bit boring - a downright refusal to consider some monarchs might have been gay just seemed a bit of a strange thing to fix upon. Some of the language choices around mental ill health were also flippant - no doubt I am one of the woke snowflakes who annoy him."

I'd probably get this for my dad/FiL, I doubt either would pick up on the bits that annoy me, and are happy to pretend past royalty were all cis het men... But personally I'd rather have a more rounded picture of history

I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who will be the next comedian to write a basic history book? And why was it felt we needed another?

Didn’t learn much apart from the fact that I didn’t realise that the aristocracy were often named after where they were born e.g. John of Gaunt, hence Henry Bolingbroke. I’d always wondered why he was named that.